In one of its final acts of 2018, the Monmouth County Board of Freeholders took action to expand the Wickatunk Recreation Area in Marlboro.
During a meeting on Dec. 20, the freeholders authorized the purchase of a 17.9-acre parcel at 103 Harbor Road, Marlboro, from Harbor Road Properties at a cost of $170,000. The land will be added to a county recreation area that was created less than a decade ago.
The funds to purchase the parcel will come from the Monmouth County Open Space, Recreation, Floodplain Protection, Farmland and Historic Preservation Trust Fund.
The Board of Recreation Commissioners recommended the purchase of the property to the freeholders. The property on Harbor Road will be acquired and preserved for county open space preservation, natural resources conservation, and public park and recreation purposes, according to a resolution.
The county acquired a conservation easement on the property at 103 Harbor Road in 2013 and entered into a right of first refusal option agreement with the land owner for its preservation and addition to the Wickatunk Recreation Area, according to the resolution.
The Wickatunk Recreation Area has two sections: one section at 431 Route 79 (the Airport Meadows entrance) and one section at 97 Harbor Road (the Spring Valley entrance), according to the Monmouth County Park System website.
The Airport Meadows section is open from dawn to dusk and the Spring Valley section is open by appointment.
The park system website states the Wickatunk Recreation Area is “named after the Lenape word for ‘finishing place’” and that “the 98-acre Wickatuck Recreation Area offers fields and forests. Established in 2010, the site is home to the former Marlboro Airport and the recently acquired Spring Valley section.
“Since its initial acquisition, the park system has cleared remnants of the airport and is preserving the Airport Meadows section as open space. With its protected habitats for woodland creatures and birds, the area is an ideal spot for nature walks.
“The Spring Valley section is an outdoor event center that offers a unique and attractive venue for wedding ceremonies and receptions, as well as other social functions. A former winery and farm, this site’s bucolic feel provides guests a sense of elegant beauty and charm,” according to the website.
Asked to comment on the county’s purchase of the Harbor Road property, Mayor Jonathan Hornik said, “I am very pleased with the county’s continued commitment to purchase land in Marlboro to preserve as open space and for recreational purposes, including the planned acquisition at 103 Harbor Road.
“Since taking office in 2008, my administration has purchased 228 acres to preserve as open space, including saving 56 acres known as the Stattel farm from becoming 550 homes on the corner of Route 520 and Route 79.
“Every acre that is purchased by the township or the county is one less acre greedy developers can get their hands on. We will continue to work with the county and state to acquire land in Marlboro to preserve as much land as possible to maintain the high quality of life Marlboro residents have come to enjoy,” Hornik said.
For information about rates and availability of the Wickatunk Recreation Area Spring Valley section, interested individuals may contact Jacques Catering at 866-522-7837, ext. 304.
The Airport Meadows section of the Wickatunk Recreation Area is on southbound Route 79. The entrance is an unmarked driveway just north of the Conover Road intersection and south of Mount Sinai Cemetery. For mapping applications, use 431 Route 79, Marlboro Township.